The story of buying and keeping a (production) cruising sailboat afloat long enough to prep it for cruising!

In getting ready to haul out our 51ft Sailboat for multiple upgrades, repairs and normal maintenance, I knew my wife would be in Japan the entire time and I still needed to maintain some semblance of a normal routine with my two young school aged girls. We looked very hard at hotels with kitchen near the boatyard and several Airbnb’s, but we would have paid over $1456 dollars total for 7 days. (the haulout turned into 11 days). This cost would have been on top of the food costs, haul out costs, subcontractor costs and every other costs. After talking to our friend and experience yacht broker from Yachtfinders/Windseakers, we just decided to stay on the boat while she was hauled out. This did present some challenges as we were not allowed to dump gray water (no dishes or our tank would fill up) and we didn’t coordinate our black water tank cleaning well, so we had to make sure it was cleaned while we were 16 feet up on the hard. We also had to adjust to the kids clearing the gap from boat to ladder and the boat vibrating in it’s scaffolding at night, but things went well. The boatyard had nice bathrooms and showers and seemed to go with the flow of having young children there in the late afternoons. However, the boatyard started work early, so we tried to be off the boat by 0700 and the kids often were back by 4pm.

If you haul your boat out and want to live on it (with or without kids) here’s some of the things you may experience:

Tulum 5, on the hard at Shelter Island BoatyardWe tried to position the ladder in several places close enough for the kids to get on the boat, but in the end, it worked but it was in the paint crew’s way. Yep, there’s a pretty good distance between rain and ladder, I made sure our minds were in the game for this transition. My 9-year old (Teragan’s) first time up the ladder. She wasn’t all that happy about this first time but took to it well and in the end, taught mom how to do it. (Yeah, it’s a long way down). Your boat will probably have alot of scaffolding and bracing like ours. We got used to it and make it work. Plan your haulout better than I did, so you DON’T have to get pumped in the middle of it. Hard to make this work with two little girls on the boat with tiny bladders. Just had to be done.

So in the end, if I can live on my cruising sailboat on the hard with two little kids while my wife is traveling on business, you can too. Note: Quincy the Great Dane was not with us, we kenneled her for this little adventure.

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I LOVE all the great SPAM Mail I’ve come back to on the website after an interesting two weeks in the boatyard. PLEASE keep it up…but I’m really bummed that you guys don’t think I need any more Viagra Spam mail. Really folks…I was looking forward to seeing all those again!

On another note, we’ve been getting lots of great readership, THANKS. We just got back from the “Yards” where Tulum was hauled out for two weeks. Really GREAT experience with the Boatyard Crew and learning lessons from one of the subcontractors in the Yard. I lived on the boat, with the kids while she was out of the water, 16 feet up. It is possible to do all this. Michelle was in Japan most of the time on business, so it was an exciting two weeks. Stay with me, more to come once I’m settled again. Took the big girl (the boat) out for some time on the water yesterday and she didn’t disappoint. Whoever called her a Motorsailor never sailed her I guess. I had her doing 4 knots in 6.5 knots of wind….we were smokin!

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When I discuss downsizing personal items; I’m not talking about sorting and putting things in storage, I’m talking about actually getting rid of very personal items because you really don’t want to pay for yet another storage shed. This was brought home last week as I watched our triathlon bikes and equipment get sold and carted off. I was the impetus behind this but it still had an emotional impact, as we’ve now truly closed that door for the near future at least.

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Part of the fun of a boatyard is getting to see lots of different boats, really up close and personally. So when my friend (and broker) called and asked if I wanted to come check out a composting head on a really unique boat, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I had seen composting heads before and am already sold on them, but the boat is a diamond in the rough and a unique piece of classic plastic. The Cheoy Lee “Pedric” 36 was built in 1985 (perhaps only in 1985) in Taiwan, carries lots of water and fuel for her size and this particular boat comes with multiple surprise additions. As soon as I went onboard, I could see she was a diamond in the rough, being brought back to life by my friend and broker, who’s determined to give the next owner the best boat possible. With a composting head, barbecue, dinghy, outboard motor and watermaker; this boat will make a single sailor or cruising couple really happy when she finds her forever owner. Continue reading →

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I’m around but distracted because Tulum has been hauled out since late Tuesday but her bottom’s not even started yet. The damn cold and wet weather patterns have not helped. These Jan/Feb/Mar months have been the wettest and coldest I’ve ever experienced in San Diego. In order to save approx $1400 dollars on hotel or Airbnb costs, we elected to stay on the boat and then yard happily obliged. We have power and our crack poop pumper showed up at the yard with a 100 foot hose to clean us out,,,although the yard has very nice heads and a private shower. Climbing the 16 feet to the boat via ladder has not stopped the girls but they have had to learn to slow down and allowed me to help them across the expanse from ladder to boat. The yard starts early in the day and ends work early in the day, something we’ve gotten used to and have worked through. I think we’ll go back in the water by this coming Thurs/Fri, just in time for Michelle to get back from her Japan trip and miss all the fun boat work in the yard projects. I’m sure she’s jealous!

Here’s a shot of her hauled, more later this week-

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HELLOOOOO!!!!! Guess what? I’M BACK!!! PS something you should know about me: I have read the WHOLE series of Harry Potter. Awesome, right? Now that I realize it, I don’t really have a lot to talk about but dad would get really mad at me if I just leave most of this-what is it called? I’m gonna go with typing paper-typing paper blank, so I’m gonna keep typing. At school, we’ve{me and my classmates} been told we’re going to start working on this biography on any famous person we want. Anyone. Alive or dead. I of course chose {AHEM} LEONARDO DA VINCI!!!!-AKA to be THE most famous inventor alive! That is if he was alive. When my teacher said we could do as many reports as we want to, at that moment I was seriously FREAKING OUT!!! My next biography will be about {AHEM, again} MOTHER TERESA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AKA, she helped out the poor a motherload! After that, I’ll do {AHEM- for the second time} SALLY RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! she was the first women in space {GO WOMEN!} After that I’ll be doing A-B-R-A-H-A-M LINCOLN. YAWN. Well, I gotta go. See y’all later! TEAGAN UP AND OUT!!!

(From the actual author….remember when you read this that it’s written by a 9-year old. Her enthusiasm comes through huh? CALLING ALL PEN PALS- if your kids have questions about boat life, I’ll make sure Teagan answers them in her writings, but you’ve got to send them to me in comments-)

After I published the project list (above) I had discussed with the boatyard, I started thinking through everything I would work on while Tulum was out of the water. This is in addition to getting the kids fed and to/from school every day (Quincy will be in the kennel and Michelle is on business in Japan for two weeks). As I went down the list, it became longer and longer and there’s no way I’ll finish while she’s out of the water. So I just decided to think through it during this post, knowing what tools and supplies are on the boat – while having to think through what I need to get out of the dockbox. Here goes:

Using the templates I have, cut and install the new sound/heat barriers in the bilge spaces under the galley floors.

Install new heat/sound barrier in the engine room.

Take off heat shield material on engine exhaust piping and install new heat shield and heat shield tape.

Find out where the lower coolant drain is- drain and change engine coolant.

Find out where the engine thermostat is- change it (make sure you buy extra thermostats).

Drain and Change Engine Oil.

Figure out how to get into the space and change the impeller (take existing impeller kit and buy two more prior to changing it).

Change the primary Fuel Filter (canister)- at the boatyard we’re right next to a large Marine store- get extra canisters.

Change the primary Oil Filter (canister)- at the boatyard we’re next to a large Marine Store- get extra canisters.

Pick up Main Sheet (getting a new one made) and reattach to the main. Take off the mizzen Main Sheet and have a new one made.

Install new speakers in the cockpit, stern boxes and main salon. Run the wires and install Amp and Stereo Face.

Should be an interesting haul-out, as most of the week looks like we’re going to get rain. This means I can’t do the deck sealing and I can’t start the varnish nightmare, so I’ll focus on the projects above. Should keep me busy. It I get through even half the list, I’ll be impressed.

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With my elbow on the mend (it was an inflamed bursa over the elbow) and my neck under control, I’ve gotten a bit stir crazy from not doing something to keep myself in shape. See, throughout my life I have done sports that kept me in decent shape: mountaineering, climbing, long distance triathlon and running/lifting. With retirement and various injuries, I’ve transitioned out of triathlon and thought I was going to do great in CrossFit, but that’s not in the cards. I have fewer problems now with diet than I had before and I’ve found that with my stress levels different than when I was working for someone else instead of myself, my weight is far easier to manage. But I’ll never be able to go back to CrossFit, so I’m going back to what I know, which is running (jogging/slogging/walking). I’m no runner and God didn’t build me to be one, but I’m a very slow and steady jogger and that’s good enough for me. I’m humble about this since I wanted to move onto another sport besides running, but I’m learning that I’ll do whatever I can to stay in shape.

This is my new sentiment- Courtesy of Pinterest

See; there’s NO WAY I’m gonna keep the belly off without doing something. So I am. Read below for my real thoughts:

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Quincy the Great Dane on a Sailboat has had a rough week: She’s had to go back and forth to her daycare kennel multiple days this week and this weekend there’s rain and clouds; so she’s gotta hang out in the cockpit more than usual. I’m not sure what the typical life is for a Great Dane on a sailboat, but I think this is pretty much it. She’s anxious to share her weekly advice with you: Continue reading →

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There’s a haul out and spa week coming next week for Tulum V and I can’t wait. She needs this TLC and maintenance prior to us leaving and this happens to be one of the milestones we need to check off prior to starting more serious shakedowns come spring and summer. Here she is hauled out for survey: